Metacognition: That “Meh” Feeling

We’re back with our “thinking about thinking” series! If you’re interested in our previous deep thoughts, check out the Metacognition series. Join us for some deep thoughts (and maybe the occasional not-so-deep thought) about gaming. If you find one you’d like to answer, you can either comment below or write a post and share the link so we can all read your fantastic thoughts!

What is one game you like enough to not hate, but don’t actively “like”?

Out of all of the Metacognition posts, this is the one I had the hardest time with. Any game I’ve finished I’ve generally enjoyed, but for any game I haven’t finished, I think that judging it harshly just doesn’t seem fair.

I’ve talked about Remember Me, which I loved and was frustrated with at the same time, but I would recommend that game to another person. Two Worlds II I did not like, nor would I recommend it, even though I know it has its own following, and War in the North (in the same article) was just not for me. I usually stop playing games if I feel sort of “meh” about them.

But then I remembered this poor game, that I liked enough to keep but haven’t really liked enough to completely pick up and commit to again:

It’s really not fair, because it has such an interesting concept, and I enjoyed the idea of not only being in a fairy-story, like stepping into a book, but having the various creatures come to your aid/be swung at the bad guys was a lore-heavy and tactical touch that I appreciated. I don’t hate it, really. I just… meh. It was cool, but nothing has pulled me back to it. I wouldn’t say I actively dislike it, but I wouldn’t say that I actively like it, either. It’s taken up space on my shelf for years, and out of all the games that I haven’t yet played, this one has the least amount of guilt, but also gets a little smile, like “Hey, yeah. That was a neat game, sort of.”

Honestly, there’s not much else I can say about that.

What about you? Do you have a game that you like enough to not dislike, but don’t actually like? Or do you usually have some sort of reaction to games, either positive or negative? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~Athena

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8 comments

I don’t think I’ve heard of Folklore before. It does seem like a cool game idea, in theory.

To be honest, Nintendo’s latest games have been pretty meh to me. Breath of the Wild disappointed me. I don’t hate that version of Hyrule, it just doesn’t feel like the dungeon crawling Zelda experience I was craving. I’ll pick it up again someday. I’ll enjoy it more now that my expectations are lowered. I was not a fan of Super Mario Odyssey at first, either. I picked away at it slowly and got through it. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. There were a few magic Mario moments, but for the most part… meh. I think my tastes in games have changed. I hope Metroid Prime 4 wows me when it’s out.

Another one is ReCore on the Xbox One. It was by the creators of Metroid Prime so I was expecting greatness. Instead, I got a slow loading, buggy, kinda dull desert blaster. I didn’t hate it. The Corebot companions were cute, and Joule was a cool character. I just put it down and forgot about it. It’s fully patched now so I do expect to jump back in at some point. I need to finish the Mass Effect series before any of this happens 😛

I don’t disagree with LightningEllen, actually. While Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey were fun games, I don’t really have a huge desire to replay either. I do think that’s a symptom of being older and not having the same amount of free time, but I still didn’t get the same level of joy from those games as previous Zelda / Mario outings.

As for a game that I felt meh about even in my gaming heydey, I’m going to have to go with FFX. After the joy that was IX, X really fell flat for me (and I don’t think FF has been as good since the days of IV – IX).

Currently the games that really grip me are open world / big world games with stronger cohesive narratives – Horizon Zero Dawn was my winner for last year for sure, and I am SUPER into God of War 4 right now. Not to mention joyful indies like Celeste – and I just picked up Owlboy which I am really excited for!

I find it hard to say I hate a game, I feel slightly unfair for doing so. For sure there will be games I don’t enjoy or don’t like or even disappoint me but when I consider saying I hate them I find that difficult. Even games that disappoint me or I stop because I feel ‘meh’ about them I keep. I’m probably not going to finish them but I still have them. Now that I’m writing this I can’t think of an example off the top of my head but there will be some.

Yeah, I rarely *hate* a game (although a few have come close). Like, I disliked them to the point I got rid of them and didn’t look back. I did feel a little bad, because it wasn’t the game’s fault (probably), but usually they just wind up as nice little dust collectors on my shelf. I’m not sure which is better, really: to feel indifferent or to actively dislike a game… hm…

Thief. Totally Thief, for me. I’ve been mildly interested in the series from afar, and when I caught the 2014 entry on super-sale recently, I scooped it up. I’ve made it through about 15 hours, and it’s a definite “meh.” It’s not really a bad game, and I certainly don’t hate it – its mechanics work well enough — it’s just that it’s…boring. The main character’s not very interesting, the story is bland, the environments are unispired. If beige is a game, it’s Thief.